Motherhood in the New Year

To paraphrase a few words from Donna-Marie Cooper-O'Boyle's Preface of the book The Domestic Church: Room by Room:  The gift of conceiving & carrying a human life within one's own body-under one's own heart-and then giving birth to and raising this little one is almost beyond words- and nothing short of a miracle.  The vocation of motherhood is a sublime privilege and an awesome responsibility.  We are partaking in a partnership with God and our husbands, through our marital vows.  In that partnership, we can experience a special communion with the mystery of life as he or she develops within our very being.  What a gift it is to be a mother. 

 The Catechism says: "The Christian home is the place where childeren receive the first proclamation of the faith.  For this reason the family home is rightly called 'the domestic church', a community of grace and prayer, a school of human virtues and of Christian charity" (CCC, 1666).

How beautiful and profound!  Life can be so messy I am happy when I come across such notions to meditate upon when I am in the thick of daily living.  It helps me so very much to hear and contemplate these ideas instead of my own some what selfish ideas.

The other idea this book reminded me of is to look at the example of our Blessed Mother and her generous heart.  "Mary's determination and generous heart sent her-alone, on foot, and pregnant-on a 3-day journey to help her cousin Elizabeth, who was much older and also expecting a child.  We can be sure that Mary prayed and reflected all throughout her journey because the blessedness of Jesus dwelled within the tabernacle of her womb." (The Domestic Church: Room by Room page 3).

Sometimes I find it overwhelming to follow Mary's example because she was so perfect, but I can immitate her in the little things I do (visiting someone in need instead of staying home and getting my things done) and it somehow doesn't seem so overwhelming.

So for this new year of 2010 I am looking forward to doing a better job of immitating our wonderful Blessed Mother in the little things I do each day. 

Thank you Donna-Marie for the inspiration and insight!  God bless you in your work.